Cross-Bevan-Beadle method

The first plant for the manufacture of rayon in the United States was built in 1910 by the newly-formed Viscose Corporation of America. Sales of the new product were slow at first, but by 1925, rayon had become more popular than silk. Today, the Cross-Bevan-Beadle method of making rayon is only one of four processes used by the industry to make the fiber. 

Modern methods of producing regenerated cellulose can be traced to the discovery in 1892 by Cross, Bevan, and beadle that cellulose can be rendered soluble by xanthate formation by treatment with sodium hydroxide and carbon disulfide and regenerated by acidification of the xanthate solution. This process is known as the viscose process. The reactions can be indicated schematically as... 

Among various derivative methods, the viscose process, invented by Cross, Bevan and Beadle in 1892, still is dominating in commercial cellulose fiber production with an armrral prodnction of more than 2 million tons. Figirre 10.4 shows the flow chart of the viscose process. The viscose process begins with the alkalization step, where the cellttlose ptrlp is treated with an 18-20 % solution of NaOH... 

The Viscose method mentioned earlier was finally worked out in 1894 by English chemists Charles Frederick Cross, Edward John Bevan, and Clayton Beadle. This method was a commercial success, and the fabric was manufactured first by Courtaulds Fibers in the United Kingdom and then Avtex Fibers in the United States. 

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